1. Technical Field of the Invention
The principles of the present invention generally relate to verification of visual content displayed on an electronic visual display, and, more particularly, to measuring (1) an operational parameter of the electronic visual display and/or (2) a verification code associated with the visual content for verification of the visual content being displayed.
2. Description of Related Art
Advertisers of products and services are acutely concerned that the advertisements placed in various media are properly represented. In the case of advertisements being placed in printed periodicals, such as newspapers or magazines, “tear sheets” as understood in the art are utilized to (1) determine that the advertisement was in fact “run” or printed in the periodical, and (2) determine that the advertisement was properly printed. In terms of being properly printed, factors such as color and registration (i.e., alignment of the colors that form the image) are important to the advertisers as the quality of the advertisements may affect sales opportunities. Additionally, printed advertisements are expensive and, if the quality of the advertisement is incorrect, then the advertiser expects and receives a discount for improper services rendered by the producers of the periodical. In fact, there are companies that specialize in tearing out the advertisements from the periodicals and provide the tear sheets to the advertisers for verification that an advertisement in the periodical was timely run, properly placed, and had acceptable quality.
Since electronic visual technology has evolved dramatically since the advent of the television, advertisers have utilized the technology to reach target audiences. The advertisers, and other information and content providers, have had to trust that the electronic communication and display equipment has been operational from the content distribution point to the electronic visual displays that are remotely located. To address these concerns, electronic visual displays have become standardized such that the colors produced by one display is substantially consistent with each other display. However, the electronic visual displays, as with all electronic devices, deteriorate, fail, or become uncalibrated over time. Types of electronic visual displays may include cathode ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal display (LCD), plasma, light emitting diode (LED), organic LED, and projection screens. As understood in the art these displays are of the flat and non-flat panel display types and are based on either emitted or reflected light to create images.
Content providers, including advertisers and information sources and operators of the electronic visual display equipment are interested in knowing that the equipment is working properly to be assured that the content is being properly delivered to and displayed by the electronic visual display. However, to monitor each electronic visual display by having a person constantly checking the operations thereof is not financially attractive to the operator. For example, airport operators charged with displaying airline schedules on remotely located electronic visual displays need to know that the displays are properly working. However, to have an individual continuously monitoring the operation of each electronic visual display by walking to and viewing each may not be feasible or economically advantageous for even for modestly sized airports. Similarly, operators of electronic billboards, which is one form of an electronic visual display, need to know (1) that the electronic billboards are properly working and (2) that the content is being received and properly displayed by the electronic billboards.
In providing an operator of remotely located electronic visual displays the ability to determine that the displays are operating properly, product developers and/or after-market providers of the electronic visual displays have developed various feedback mechanisms for operational parameters. Depending upon the type of electronic visual display, the operational parameters being sensed and fed-back may vary. However, conventional feedback mechanisms almost completely rely on sensing voltage and current operational parameters of the electronic visual display.
In early efforts for providing feedback of operational parameters, a simple indication that the electronic visual display was drawing power was monitored. However, more recently, additional operational and functional parameters have been monitored to improve knowledge of the specific operations of the remotely located display. Such operational and functional parameter monitoring may include temperature, voltage, current, light (as a function of current being drawn by a light source), frame rate, and refresh rate. It should be understood, however, that these operational parameters may not be reasonably available for certain electronic visual displays. In general, the operational parameters being fed-back by conventional electronic visual displays are utilized to merely provide an indication of the operation of the electronic visual display for maintenance or remote adjustment purposes.
Still yet, the use of signature analysis has been utilized for testing and remote adjustment purposes. Signature analysis is a technique whereby a known test signal (e.g., a particular display color, intensity, or image pattern) is applied to an electronic visual display to cause a known or expected response of one or more operational parameters by the display. By measuring one or more operational parameters resulting from a known test signal, it can be determined whether the electronic visual display is operating properly and remotely adjusted.
To further provide feedback as to the operation of an electronic visual display, one technique has included stationing a remote camera facing the display. Photographs or video images may be taken of the output of the electronic visual display and fed-back via a network to provide the operator of the remotely located electronic visual display with the images to manually determine whether the electronic visual display is operating properly. For example, this remote camera technique allows for the operator to determine that the picture tube, elements of an LED display, etc., are operating properly for a billboard located on a building or highway that is remotely located from an operation control center. However, similar to the previously described operational parameter feedback techniques, the purpose for performing the feedback is for remotely monitoring and/or controlling operation of the electronic visual display for maintenance purposes. The remote camera technique requires the communication of images that may be large so as to be bandwidth and memory intensive. Also, as the number of displays being monitored becomes large, evaluation and management of the images being fed-back becomes impractical and expensive.